The descending comet tore through Redyat's Dragon's Breath as if it were nothing more than mist. Purple light surged through the sky, crushing the lingering black flames apart with overwhelming force.
Someone on the battlefield finally shouted in alarm.
"He is here!"
The words spread instantly.
A massive comet hung in the sky, trailing a long, radiant tail of shifting purple light. It looked almost beautiful, like a sweeping brushstroke across the heavens, yet no one present mistook it for anything harmless.
Redyat narrowed his eyes.
When his breath attack failed, he immediately abandoned the exchange. His dragon form twisted in midair, wings snapping wide as he shot upward instead, claws aimed directly at the incoming impact.
"Oh? You are coming head-on?" Arest's voice carried a faint trace of amusement.
Inside the comet's core, he smiled.
The purple energy around him flared violently, and the comet swelled in size, its tail stretching further as its descent accelerated. The pressure it generated pressed down on the battlefield below like a collapsing sky.
Below, Kuzan frowned sharply.
"Is he planning to crash it all the way down?"
His gaze locked onto the frozen sea beneath. If that thing landed, the ice battlefield would shatter instantly, and the ocean beneath would erupt. Worse still, countless soldiers were still stationed below.
And if the impact triggered a full collapse into the sea, Devil Fruit users would have no chance of survival.
He clicked his tongue.
"The World Government does not care about collateral damage."
Redyat reached the comet in the next instant.
A colossal impact echoed through the sky.
Boom.
The collision did not explode outward. Instead, Redyat was pulled directly into the comet's descent path, his massive dragon body locked in place as the force dragged him downward.
Even his wings, beating with enough force to split storms, could not fully offset the pressure.
His expression darkened slightly.
This was not ordinary power.
The purple energy was resisting his shadow-based erosion. Not canceling it outright, but refusing to be consumed. The interaction itself felt unnatural, as if two completely different forces were simply ignoring each other's existence.
A comet.
So this was the so-called Comet Fruit.
Redyat tightened his grip.
Without hesitation, he adjusted midair.
Instead of resisting directly, he rotated his body and forced a full reversal in momentum. In a single motion, he latched onto the comet's trajectory, then violently redirected it downward.
If it could not be stopped, then it would be thrown.
And he aimed it straight toward the densely packed allied formation below.
The distance collapsed in seconds.
Two hundred meters.
One hundred.
Fifty.
"Dodge it!" someone screamed.
But it was already too late.
The comet struck the ice battlefield.
The impact did not merely break the surface. It erased it.
A massive crater formed instantly as the ice shattered into a spiderweb of destruction. The ocean beneath erupted upward, swallowing broken ice and bodies alike. The shockwave rippled outward, triggering a chain collapse across several kilometers of frozen battlefield.
Then came the tsunami.
Water surged violently upward, turning the battlefield into a chaotic disaster zone. Ice slabs lifted like waves before breaking apart again, tossing soldiers into freezing depths.
Screams filled the air.
Even seasoned officers were dragged under without resistance.
Kuzan's expression hardened.
"This is beyond control."
He stepped forward immediately.
"Ice Age."
A surge of absolute cold spread outward from his body. The chaotic ocean began to freeze mid-motion, waves locking into frozen sculptures suspended in time. Cracks were forcibly stabilized, and the collapsing battlefield regained temporary structure.
But it came at a cost.
Some soldiers were frozen along with the sea itself, trapped mid-struggle. Kuzan did not look away.
He chose containment over survival.
That was the only option left.
Above the frozen chaos, all eyes shifted to the crater.
The comet had landed.
But the attacker was nowhere to be seen.
Silence spread.
Then the sea began to move again.
A subtle rise in pressure. A distortion beneath the surface.
Something was still alive.
The water bulged upward.
A figure emerged wrapped in glowing purple energy, pushing the seawater away before it could touch him. The energy formed a barrier, isolating him completely from the ocean's influence.
No freezing.
No drowning.
No suppression.
Arest rose into the air calmly, his body intact, his presence unchanged.
Tall posture. White suit. Gold-trimmed coat. Long blond hair flowing behind him. A white mask with black markings concealed his expression.
Yet his aura was unmistakably dangerous.
A noble appearance hiding something far more violent underneath.
Redyat watched him closely.
So did Arest.
Neither moved for a moment.
Then both vanished at the same time.
Purple light and black shadow collided in midair.
Boom.
The battlefield above reignited instantly.
Speed became meaningless to the eye. Only flashes remained. Shadow shifting through space. Comet light cutting through the air like falling stars. Each collision produced shockwaves that rippled across the sky.
Below, the frozen battlefield resumed motion as soldiers snapped back into fighting instinctively, even as their attention kept drifting upward.
This was no longer just a battle below.
It had become a war defined by what happened above their heads.
And now, with White Ghost gone and a new force fully revealed, the balance had returned to instability.
The world had not stabilized.
It had simply changed shape.
And somewhere far beyond the battlefield, the name Arest had already begun spreading through every Den Den Mushi network, carrying with it a single undeniable truth.
The World Government had finally revealed another of its hidden monsters.